The invention relates to a plant seed oil, comprising arachidonic acid comprising approximately 7 to approximately 26 percent by weight of the total fatty acid content, the ratio of the percentages by weight of arachidonic acid to gamma-linolenic acid being approximately 1:1 to approximately 5:1 and the ratio of the percentages by weight of arachidonic acid to dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid being approximately 1:1 to approximately 5:1. The invention furthermore relates to processes for the production of this plant seed oil and also formulations and uses of the plant seed oil. In particular, the invention also makes foodstuffs and baby food available that comprise the plant seed oil mentioned.
Arachidonic acid (ARA) is a long-chain, polyunsaturated fatty acid of the omega-6 (n-6) class (C20:4 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid). Below, polyunsaturated fatty acids are designated as PUFA, PUFAs, LCPUFA or LCPUFAs (poly unsaturated fatty acids, PUFA; long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids, LCPUFA).
ARA is the most frequently occurring C20-PUFA in human blood plasma (Siguel and Schaefer (1988) Aging and nutritional requirements of essential fatty acids. In: Dietary Fat Requirements in Health and Development (Beare-Rogers, ed.) pp 163-189, American Oil Chemist's Society, Champaign, Ill.). It is especially present in organ, muscle and blood tissue, where it fulfills an important function as a structural lipid that is predominantly associated with phospholipids in blood, liver, muscles and other important organ systems. In addition to its principal function as a structural lipid, ARA also serves as a direct precursor for a series of circulating eicosanoids such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), prostacyclin 12 (PGI2), thromboxane A2 (TxA2) and the leukotrienes B4 (LTB4) and C4 (LTC4). These eicosanoids influence growth control, the inflammatory defense reaction, blood rheology, vascular tone, the leukocyte function and platelet activation (Calder 2006, Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 75:197-202; Roland et al. 2004, Mini Rev Med Chem. 4:659-68).
Human breast milk in all stages of lactation comprises a considerable proportion of ARA. This amounts to approximately 0.2 to 1.0% of the total content of fatty acids (Brenna et al. 2007 AJCN 85:1457). The concentration depends on the lactation stage, on the nutritional state of the mother and on environmental conditions. Therefore organizations such as the “World Association of Perinatal Medicine”, the “Early Nutrition Academy”, the “Child Health Foundation”, the “World Health Organization”, the “British Nutrition Foundation”, the “European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition”, and the “International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids”, in cases in which breast-feeding is not an option, recommend the use of baby food that is supplemented, inter alia, with ARA (Koletzko et al. 2008, J Perinat Med. 2008;36:5-14; Diersen-Schade et al. 2005 Lipid Technology 17:225). ARA is meanwhile also being added by more and more manufacturers of infant food in order to match this with the breast milk. Interestingly, the concentration of ARA in the breast milk in general varies less than that of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 0.1 to more than 1.0% of the total content of fatty acids) (Diersen-Schade 2005 LipTech 17:225; Innis 2007 ProcNutrSoc 66:397; Brenna et al. 2007 AJCN 85:1457), which points to a more exact physiological regulation, in order that the ARA content necessary for the infant food is available.
The potential health advantages that ARA offers for infants in the pre-, pen- and postnatal stages lie in the encouragement of brain development and functions and also in an improved development of the eyes (Diersen-Schade et al. 2005 Lipid Technology 17:225). The agreeing recommendations and practical guidelines for health care that are recommended by the “World Association of Perinatal Medicine”, the “Early Nutrition Academy” and the “Child Health Foundation” underline the importance of an adequate intake of ARA with baby food (Koletzko et al. 2008, J Perinat Med. 2008; 36:5-14). In particular the fetus and the newborn child should receive LC-PUFA in adequate amount in order to support optimum visual and cognitive development. It is assumed that for the newborn child up to the age of approximately two years advantages result on account of nutritional supplementation with ARA.
From May 2001, infant food supplemented by ARA was no longer a niche product, because ARA evolved in the highly developed countries to be an almost obligatory constituent of infant milk. This development was also supported in that the US “Food and Drug Administration” (FDA) had given a positive assessment to Martek's GRAS classification with regard to the use of DHASCO® (DHA, Crypthecodinium cohnii) and ARASCO® (ARA, Mortierella alpina) oil mixtures in infant foods. The abbreviation “GRAS” designates here the classification “Generally Recognized as Safe”, i.e. as safe for use in foodstuffs. The addition of ARA to the infant milk and thus also to the ARA market was on the one hand expedited by Martek's exertion of influence and on the other hand by the fact that the potential health advantages of ARA for the development of infants were increasingly recognized.
Apart from ARA, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is also an important fatty acid that should be added to infant food. DHA occurs in human breast milk, and it is assumed that the development of the brain, the nerve tissue and the eyes of the growing infant is supported. It was demonstrated that the addition of DHA in effective concentrations both in the case of infants born at the calculated term and in the case of infants born too early improves the cognitive development of visual acuity.
In addition to ARA and DHA, breast milk comprises still further high-grade unsaturated fatty acids, which are less researched, but also play a great role for the development of the infant. These fatty acids are, for example, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 0.1-0.2% of the total content of fatty acids), dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA, 0.2-0.4% of the total content of fatty acids), stearidonic acid (SDA, up to 0.1% of the total content of fatty acids) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 0.05-0.3% of the total content of fatty acids) (Yuhas et al. 2006 Lipids 41:851-8). In order to match the substitute food as well as possible with the breast milk, it is important to integrate these high-grade unsaturated fatty acids into the lipid content of the infant food.
The role of the high-grade unsaturated n-6-fatty acids GLA and DGLA is currently being investigated. The presence of GLA and DGLA in the breast milk supports the fact that, independently of ARA, they are important for the development of the nursing infant. Research shows that the n-6 fatty acids of the infant compete with one another in the physiological integration into the human tissue lipids (Al et al. 2008, Am J Clin Nutr 71:285S-91S). It is therefore important that a balanced fatty acid pattern is made possible in the case of expectant and nursing mothers (Geppert et al. 2008, Br. J. Nutrition 99: 360-9).
The potential advantages of the early additional administration of GLA include a reduced total IgE value in the first year of life in the case of infants who suffer from atopic dermatitis or atopic eczema, a frequent hereditary skin disorder (Demmelmair H., Feldl F., Horvath I. et al. Influence of formulas with borage oil or borage oil plus fish oil on the arachidonic acid status in premature infants, Lipids 2001; 36:555-66. Kitz R., Rose M A., Schonborn H., Zielen S., Bohles H J. Impact of early dietary gamma-linolenic acid supplementation on atopic eczema in infancy. Pediatr. Allergy Immunol. 2006, 17:112-7). The tendency is also seen that by the additional administration of GLA in children with a high familial risk of atopic dermatitis the disorder can be kept under control in late infancy (van Gool et al. 2003, Am J Clin Nutr 77:943). Although the frequency of atopic eczema cannot be influenced or decreased by GLA supplied the food (Kritz et al. 2006), the total IgE value in the case of children who suffer from atopic eczema appears to decrease as a result of the additional administration of GLA in the first year of life (Kritz et al. 2006). DGLA is a precursor in the synthesis of prostaglandin El (PGE1) and also the series 3 prostaglandins (Das 2008, Lipids in Health and Disease 7:9). Other advantages of DGLA supplementation in baby milk were also shown. For example, DGLA influences cytokine production in human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells independently of cyclooxygenase activation (Dooper et al. 2003 Immunology 110:348-57). This points to a reinforcement of the immune function by DGLA, which is also of importance for the newborn child. Moreover, an increase in the concentration of DGLA and ARA in the newborn child food decreases the risk of HIV virus transmission between mother and child (Villamor et al. 2007 Am J Clin Nutr 86:682-689).
There is thus a need for baby food that allows the baby an adequate intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in order to support the optimum development of the baby.